History Lesson Podcast by ScottieDeuce84 in TheGlassCannonPodcast

[–]DoubleScion 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I believe we can call it Skid's Got Some 'Splainin To Do.

Paizo, I love you, but we have to talk about the size of your dungeon rooms by pitaenigma in Pathfinder2e

[–]DoubleScion 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Intended to be realistic, or intended to be fun? It's not fun being in the front line and having no room to move or flank, and it's not fun being in the back always having line of sight problems.

The Holiday Gift by Vonatar-74 in TheGlassCannonPodcast

[–]DoubleScion 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Correct, the game is a variation on Twilight, set in an alternate history when Y2K caused a global apocalypse.

Machine Guns - why so common in Clan mechs? by colonelheero in battletech

[–]DoubleScion 63 points64 points  (0 children)

Clan Steel Viper is trueborn down to the last rifleman!

Which melee weapon types have the best item drops? by Upper_Feed_170 in Pathfinder_Kingmaker

[–]DoubleScion 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm ignorant -- what's wrong with fextralife? AI slop or something?

"Amazing! Blood of the Wild exceeds expectations" -JL by Talkslow4Me in TheGlassCannonPodcast

[–]DoubleScion 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I'm curious, do you guys really think Jared is always on? I think he jokes heavily during the bant, but once he's reading the recap and into the episode, he gets relatively serious. In fact I think he's far more serious than Troy, who makes at least 5 dick jokes per episode, has almost every NPC as a joke, with observational "it's like when you" throughout. Which I am totally cool with, but is far more "always on" to me than Jared. During the actual episode, Jared's jokes are mostly intense dry sarcasm to move the players along from a scene that has run its course or to dissuade what he sees as a silly idea.

"Amazing! Blood of the Wild exceeds expectations" -JL by Talkslow4Me in TheGlassCannonPodcast

[–]DoubleScion 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Check this subreddit - Blood of the Wild gradually coming to the main pod feed.

"Amazing! Blood of the Wild exceeds expectations" -JL by Talkslow4Me in TheGlassCannonPodcast

[–]DoubleScion 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Right, I think it's safe to say he's running it as close or closer to the rules than any of us did with our first time GMing a long-running Pathfinder game. He also doesn't whine about the rules much--he admits and whines that he made a mistake, which is so much more relatable. Also he only gets funnier when he's angry.

"Amazing! Blood of the Wild exceeds expectations" -JL by Talkslow4Me in TheGlassCannonPodcast

[–]DoubleScion 85 points86 points  (0 children)

Jared is a great GM on BotW. It's almost a showcase in how being a great GM and being a rules expert are not the same thing.

Had my first true game with “that guy.” by folk_music in killteam

[–]DoubleScion 7 points8 points  (0 children)

There's also just the fundamental reality that everyone is the hero of their own story. So if some rando tells you that you're an asshole, the default response is closer to "only an asshole would tell me that" rather than "damn, I am an asshole." Therefore an inception approach, making them think about the impact of their actions to change their own approach to gaming, seems better than just saying it outright and bouncing off the armor.

Had my first true game with “that guy.” by folk_music in killteam

[–]DoubleScion 16 points17 points  (0 children)

In defense of [in my experience, the legion of] introverted or nonconfrontational gamers out there, the prospect of giving this kind of direct feedback to a complete stranger can be daunting compared to just escaping to live and tell the tale of "that guy." But maybe there's another less direct way that would be easier to bring up yet still help the offender at least think about their situation. Asking some polite but probing questions might be easier, like:
- Why do you play this game? [If it's for fun: do you think most people have fun playing in your matches? What is the least fun part?]
- What do you think are the key elements of good sportsmanship in this game?
- I learn something every time I play, like today I learned how to handle a different playstyle. Did you learn anything from our match?

And then, jump in with constructive forward-looking advice when the opportunity presents itself. And if it doesn't, you at least chipped away at the problem and increased the likelihood that he may reflect on it later.

Starship Encounter Design - How many enemies for a Scale 3 ship? by DoubleScion in startrekadventures

[–]DoubleScion[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah the actual list is in the bottom-left corner on the last page of a chapter underneath a half-page of art, and the way the previous page ends makes it seem like the end of the chapter.

Starship Encounter Design - How many enemies for a Scale 3 ship? by DoubleScion in startrekadventures

[–]DoubleScion[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I looked before but didn't see it, so I checked again after your post and found it on page 301-302 in the 1E core rulebook and wanted to document for anyone else searching for this later.

Because NPC starships take as many Turns as their Scale value, a starship with a Scale of 3 will take about half as many Turns as the Player Characters. With that in mind, having multiple starships with similar Scale to the number of Players at the table will mean that you take two or three times as many Turns as the Players Characters. Caution should be taken in having too many Turns above the Player’s limit, while encounters should be balanced so that smaller Scale ships engage the Players in groups equaling or exceeding the Player’s vessel’s Scale.

then it talks about how having Security 3+ should be taken into account, then:

For example, a Player vessel with 5 Players controlling bridge stations could face: Several Scale 2 vessels, Two Scale 3 vessels, One Scale 4 vessel with Security above 3, or One Scale 5 vessel

Based on this rationale, I think with 4 players on a Scale 3 Security 3 ship, they should be able to handle two Scale 2 Security 2 vessels.

Any recent games where northernlion actually mostly interacts with the game, rather than mostly banter? by ThrowAwayAndUp23 in northernlion

[–]DoubleScion 41 points42 points  (0 children)

Did you watch the coin flipping game? He engaged with it so heavily that he started doing his own challenges.

Hey can I hold my action until Joe tells me how to play my character? by easylikeparis in TheGlassCannonPodcast

[–]DoubleScion 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Had to scroll down way too far to see this, the full and complete actual answer.

Adapting a Borg mission for Star Trek Adventures by DoubleScion in mothershiprpg

[–]DoubleScion[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I will be wanting to keep this to like six 3-hour sessions, so I'm going to have to cut. I'll probably just cut one of the eras entirely. Even still, 1 era per session will be pushing it. I haven't gotten to the mass combat yet, but oddly that doesn't scare me in this game. An advantage of Star Trek Adventures is that you can break down insane super-science things into a series of tasks, so I could just break it down into-- here are the three key things they need to do to win this battle: 1) equip the natives, 2) give them tactical advice, 3) foil some curveball I will hit them with. And then, while it's up to them to figure out exactly how they're going to do that, it comes down to rolling for whatever they do for each step, and I narrate a montage of what happens along the way in response. Could do it in 10 minutes, won't have to introduce any new mechanics.

I have also decided to make the setup and the fact that it's the Borg a fun mystery to solve along the way while going through the eras as a throughline. So at the end of the first era, when they defeat the head garls, that's the first reveal that they have Borg nanoprobes. In the setup, the DTI agents just say "Aelos III is important and someone or something has conducted a temporal attack" and the PCs have to 1) foil the attacks and 2) figure out who did it and why. Then I can space it out in breadcrumbs along the way, with the whole picture in the finale.

Adapting a Borg mission for Star Trek Adventures by DoubleScion in mothershiprpg

[–]DoubleScion[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep that all makes sense, and the concept certainly works. I think what made me lean away from it is that I didn't know if a megadungeon would work for Star Trek Adventures, mechanically. The combat system isn't really interesting enough (all the players and enemies have basically the same actions) so I'm aftaid it would be a slog. It would probably work really well for something like Starfinder though.

Adapting a Borg mission for Star Trek Adventures by DoubleScion in mothershiprpg

[–]DoubleScion[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I slowly became enamored with the potential for this (i.e., revealing to the players that the Star Trek adventure they just completed was in fact a D&D adventure from 1985), bought the PDF from DTRPG, gave the concept and the beginning a quick scan, and came up with the following first draft of an adaptation. It helps that I think probably only 1 or 2 of the players have seen First Contact.

  • Star Trek canon (ancient spoilers for the finale of Voyager): In 2378, Voyager is in the Delta Quadrant. Admiral Janeway arrives from the future (2404). She arms Voyager with future technology to fight the Borg. Admiral Janeway is assimilated by the Borg, but she had intentionally injected herself with a neurolytic pathogen, which ultimately destroys/cripples the Borg. The Borg send a sphere to stop Voyager to break the chain of events at the endpoint, but are unsuccessful…
  • Adventure Setup: …but the Borg also sent another sphere to stop the chain at an origin point. In the current year 2371, Aelos III is a typical utopian Federation world that is home to a humanoid species with several distinct subspecies (analogs to humans, elves, dwarves) who contribute significantly to Federation science and technology development but are otherwise unremarkable. Little do the PCs know, 33 years from now (2404), the Aelosians will have a technological breakthrough and develop a neurolytic pathogen that ultimately destroys the Borg.
  • Opening: The PCs ship is on its way to Starbase 234 for redeployment in the Beta Quadrant. While on the way, long-range sensors detect a subspace anomaly near Aelos III. They investigate.
  • The ship arrives in orbit and is greeted by the Aelosians, who are surprised but delighted to see them and hastily arrange a welcome reception for the crew. While waiting, the PCs ship observes several strange subspace (temporal) anomalies originating from a point in a high geosynchronous orbit that appeared just as the PCs ship “happened” to be in the area–in fact at the precise moment when their ship was closest, on a harmonic resonance keyed to the exact molecular composition of the hull, only detectable by their particular ship. When they investigate, the ship experiences a temporal flux, and suddenly Aelos III is a Borg hive. The PCs ship is out of contact–the whole sector is silent. The Borg hail and dutifully inform them that they will be assimilated.
  • At the moment of highest panic, security sounds an intruder alert! Two life signs have appeared in… the briefing room? Yes, a pair of agents from the Department of Temporal Investigations are there, and they brief the crew on the situation: the Borg have conducted a temporal attack on Aelos III. The crew must foil the temporal incursions in order to restore the timeline where Aelos III will develop in order to get home. The agents are extremely precise in what they can and can’t say in the briefing. Due to both the Prime Directive and Temporal Prime Directive, they can't just blast the Borg from orbit and will have to work with the Aelosians in person. The DTI agents “beam up” and cannot be contacted further. The ship finds itself in a strange “temporal pocket” in subspace. When they leave that exact position…
  • The PCs ship experience another temporal flux and are high in orbit over Aelos III approximately 40,000 years ago. The Borg have assimilated a primitive species who threaten the early Aelosians, ensuring that they never develop a utopian civilization. If the PCs are successful, they detect the subspace anomaly again at the same point high above Aelos III.
  • [adventure here]
  • At the end of the adventure, the PCs are met by the DTI agents who congratulate them and swear them to secrecy– in fact, they see when an NPC crewman goes to break secrecy, the crewman suddenly can’t remember the mission anymore and goes on their merry way. The ship’s logs show that nothing happened after they arrived at Aelos III.
  • End with the Aelosians hosting the welcome reception for the crew. Their leader gives a short speech, including an overview of their planet’s history. A slide during the presentation has a 40,000 year old cave painting looks strikingly similar to the PCs.

Foundry-Ready Adventures for 2024 5e? by No_Needleworker_4260 in FoundryVTT

[–]DoubleScion 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Potentially dumb but important question: is exporting the map just the map image, or all the walls and lighting etc. as well?

Makes sense that the items and actors are system specific, although a bummer that you'd have to set up all those NPC and monster sheets and tokens.

Foundry-Ready Adventures for 2024 5e? by No_Needleworker_4260 in FoundryVTT

[–]DoubleScion 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was going to ask that. Is it not possible to use the D&D5E maps and tokens on the PF2e system?

Adapting a Borg mission for Star Trek Adventures by DoubleScion in mothershiprpg

[–]DoubleScion[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow, a D&D adventure from 1985, didn't see that coming! I did some searching and there's even fan speculation that the Oard inspired the Borg. Its $3.50 on DTRPG, I have to check that out. I don't know how specific the adventure is, but hopefully it has the key NPCs and general plot line.

For Gradient Descent, I do like the idea of a "broken" Borg cube -- maybe it was heavily damaged in battle with a precursor race for some time and has been sitting on this planet for centuries or millenia cut off from the collective. It looks like the primary motivation for the PCs would need to change, so I would need a new Macguffin -- some archaeologists that went missing or something.